Since many of the bikes we all love were only available from the manufacturer as framesets (DeRosa, Colnago, - and on and on and on) -- then i dont care much about OEM so much as having it period correct

Due to my age, most of my interest lies in bikes many of you probably dont even consider old, -- for instance, i lust after a Colnago Bi-Titan , which was '94-'95ish --- i would not put a late model 11 speed gruppo on such a bike -- I'd rather source an 8 speed Campy group with Shamal wheels -- and Chorus or Athena is fine from that era for me

Other items , it depends --- If i had a Motorola era MErckx or a Coors Light Serotta to build up, i'd have to use Dura Ace componentry, as thats what was used on those bikes in the late 80's/early 90's by the teams

I have a GT Edge (1994 US NAtional Team ) that i am wanting to re-build --- I have an 8 speed Ultegra 600 STI build kit for it from a donor bike --- No, its not Dura Ace, but for a race bike - that was a perfectly acceptable way to go then (now too ) ----

I have a couple of older Cannondales that are not worth much except as riders, but it would bug me to put too much non catalog spec parts on either , but if i did,- i would use parts that were available in the year the bike was made

Exceptions for me come to tires, bar tape and seats ---- i use what works and whats comfortable -- - Tires are usually whatever quality tire i can get on sale somewhere, bar tape rarely varies from black cork, and seats on all my bikes whether old or brand new are either a Turbo saddle or a Flite


So when i saw this i thought to myself - "I'm not OCD at all" -- but after typing my response , i realize that , yes ... i'm pretty damn weird